ating Through Ch Navig ange Legislativeof Assembly Prince Edward Island January2015 1, 2015ANNUAL - December REPORT 31, 2015 Table of Contents: Navigating through change Our Values and Ethics 6 Clerk’s Message 7 Our History 9 Our Services 11 Our Team 15 Spotlight: A Move in the Making 16 Events 19 Community Engagement 29 Parliamentary Matters 32 2015 House Statistics 43 Legislative Assembly Budget and Expenses 44 Our Values and Ethics: Helping parliamentarians, under law, to serveDemocratic the public Valuesinterest. Serving with competence, excellence, efficiency,Professional objectivity, Values and impartiality. Acting at all times to upholdEthical the public Values trust. Demonstrating respect, fairness, and courtesy in our Peoplerelations Values with the public, colleagues, and fellow public servants. 6 8 Our History How It All Started Prince Edward Island’s government was not always led by one House of elected representatives; for roughly the first 120 years of Island governance, there were two legislative bodies, the Legislative Council and the House of Assembly. A two-body Legislature is known as a bicameral Legislature. PEI’s first Governor, Walter Patterson, was instructed to establish a House of Assembly in which representatives were popularly elected (unlike Council members, who were appointed). The combination of a Council and House was a requirement for the enactment of legislation under British law. Though Patterson became Governor in 1769, the first House of Assembly was not elected until 1773. Early sessions of the Assembly met in private homes and taverns. A Sergeant-at-Arms of the time commented that this made for a “damn queer parliament”. By 1825, the House of Assembly was working on establishing its rights and privileges, particularly in terms of self- regulation and authority. It followed the example of the British Parliament in seeking to secure ...freedom from arrest (save in indictable offences) during the session and for periods of forty days before and after the session, freedom of speech during debate, power to discipline members and non-members who gave insult or injury to the House or its members, the right to determine disputed elections, [and] the right to receive petitions . The House also established committees charged with the discussion and analysis of particular matters, which took some of the workload off the main body of the House. Committees remain an important part of today’s Legislative Assembly. PEI’s early Legislature often remained in office for an indefinite time, until the Lieutenant Governor saw fit to dissolve it. In 1833, the term was set to four years, with exceptions for dissolution by the Lieutenant Governor or upon the death of the King or Queen. Today, the term of the Legislative Assembly may last for up to five years from the day of the return of the writs for a general election. Otherwise, it may be dissolved earlier by the Lieutenant Governor with the advice of Executive Council. It is no longer automatically dissolved upon the death of a sovereign. Responsible Government The existence of an elected House of Assembly was key to PEI’s attainment of responsible government (self- government) in 1851. The Members of the House of Assembly were largely in favour of responsible government, while the Members of the Legislative Council largely were not. The Council Members’ resistance was likely because they were appointed, opposed to reform and enjoyed freedom from responsibility to the House of Assembly. In fact, the Council was often an obstacle to the House in terms of membership and policy. But in 1839, the Legislative Council was separated into a Legislative Council and an Executive Council, and some Members of the House of Assembly were placed on Executive Council; this had the effect of reducing the Legislative Council’s power. In 1840, the House of Assembly requested that the Queen grant responsible government to PEI. It was granted in 1851, and was augmented with an 1862 Act that required the Legislative Council to be elected rather than appointed. From this point onward, the Council’s influence gradually diminished compared to that of the House. 9 Creating the Legislative Assembly In 1893, the House of Assembly and the Legislative Council were combined to form the Legislative Assembly. From 1893 to 1966, PEI’s Legislative Assembly was made up of 30 Members, half of which were elected as Assemblymen, half as Councillors. There were five electoral districts in each of the three counties, and each district elected an Assemblyman and a Councillor. This double-representative system was unique in Canadian politics, as all other provinces had abolished their second chambers. In 1966 the riding of 6th Queens was created, which brought the total membership in the Assembly to 32. In 1994 the Election Act and Electoral Boundaries Commission recommended a shift to single member representation for all 30 districts. MLA Ross Young later introduced a Private Member’s Bill which redrew electoral boundaries according to a 27 riding system. The bill received Royal Assent on May 19, 1994, and survived provincial and federal Supreme Court challenges by the City of Charlottetown and other urban centres. The 1996 election was the first time the Legislative Assembly was elected based on one Member for each of 27 ridings, a system it continues to follow today. 10 TheOur Office Services of the Legislative Assembly provides • serving as secretary to the Standing Committee on nonpartisan procedural, administrative, Legislative Management; communications, educational and outreach services to the Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) and • advising the Speaker and Members on the public. parliamentary procedure, traditions and precedents; • administering the Oath of Allegiance to all duly Office of the Speaker elected Members at the beginning of a parliament; and The Speaker is the presiding officer of the Legislative Assembly, and is responsible for: • presiding over the election of a Speaker. • presiding over the proceedings of the Assembly, maintaining order, and regulating debate in Standing Committee on Legislative accordance with the rules and practices of the Management House; The Standing Committee on Legislative Management • ensuring all viewpoints have the opportunity of a deals with the administration of the House and the hearing in debate; provision of all services and facilities to Members. Chaired by the Speaker, its mandate and membership • casting the deciding vote in the event of a tie; are specified in theRules of the Legislative Assembly. • guarding the privileges of the Assembly and protecting the rights of its Members; Independent Offices of the Legislative • representing the Legislative Assembly outside of the Assembly Chamber and embodying the authority and prestige • The Conflict of Interest Commissioner assists of the House; and Members and Ministers in reconciling their private and public interests to enhance public • chairing the Standing Committee on Legislative confidence in the Legislative Assembly. Management. • Elections PEI administers all elections in Prince Edward Island. Office of the Clerk • The Information and Privacy Commissioner accepts appeals from applicants, or third Members are supported in their parliamentary functions parties, who are not satisfied with the by services administered by the Clerk, the chief response they receive from public bodies as executive officer of the Legislative Assembly. The Clerk a result of an access to information request. has both procedural and managerial responsibilities, The Commissioner also investigates privacy and oversees the delivery of nonpartisan services to complaints. the Members of the Legislative Assembly. The Clerk’s responsibilities include: • The Indemnities and Allowances Commission reviews and determines salaries and benefits to • safekeeping of the records and documents of the be provided to the Members of the Legislative House; Assembly. • maintaining the official record of the House and publishing the Journal of the Legislative Assembly; 11 Sessional Adminstration Hansard During the sittings of the Legislative Assembly, Hansard first started transcribing the daily debates additional administrative support is required. The of the Legislative Assembly in February, 1996. As of Sessional Administration Office supports the Clerk December 2, 2015, 842 issues of the daily debates with regards to the production, dissemination and have been published. safekeeping of documents. Its responsibilities include: In 2006, Hansard took over the responsibility for • archiving a copy of everything tabled in the House; transcribing committee proceedings. • producing and distributing physical copies Since 2007, Hansard has produced detailed indexes to of House proceedings and debates to Clerks, both the daily debates and committee meetings. Members, and the media, as well as posting digital copies to the Legislative Assembly website; In 2015, Hansard resumed cataloguing various papers connected to the Legislative Assembly, including • undertaking daily mailings to various provincial typescripts of portions of House and committee debates, and federal libraries and government offices; and as well as reports, speeches and other items. The time • providing training, support and scheduling for period covered is from 1961 to 1995. Once the catalogue Legislative Pages. is developed, the Legislative Assembly, working with other partners, can decide what should be scanned and added to the Legislative Documents Online